Blake's illustration portrays the shepherds Colinet and Thenot holding distaffs and conversing in a bucolic landscape. This small sheet is an unused design for The Pastorals of Virgil, which was adapted by Dr. Robert John Thornton in 1821. The drawing belonged to John Linnell, who was instrumental in getting Blake the commission. The Morgan also owns two other drawings for this work.
William Blake (1757-1827), Colinet and Thenot, for The Pastorals of Virgil, 1979.23